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Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Mystery of Charlie Cameron

By Dennis Griffin

Charlie Ralph Cameron of New York, NY was found murdered in his bedroom on April 6, 2006. The 60-year-old had been stabbed in the back and his throat slashed. His brutalized body was found by his 13 year old son, Adam.

Adam lived in New Jersey with his mother, Savitrie, and his two older brothers. During the week, Savitrie drove Adam to his father’s New York City apartment, and from there he went to the local grade school he attended. After dropping him off his mother continued on to her job as an NYC Corrections Officer. In the afternoon she picked him up at school for the drive home.

When Adam entered the apartment on the morning of April 5 his father was nowhere to be seen and his bedroom door was closed. Assuming his dad was still sleeping, Adam watched a little TV and then went to school. When he returned the next morning he found the same thing, no sign of his father and the bedroom door was still closed. Becoming alarmed, Adam decided to open the bedroom door for a look. He found his dad's bloody body lying on the floor. The room was in disarray and there was blood on the walls and floor. Adam ran from the room and called 911.

According to Adam, about a week later he and his mother went to the 23rd Precinct to speak with the detectives working his father's homicide. Sources had informed the police that Charlie had been involved with a married woman. And that a month or so before the murder, Charlie had an altercation with the woman's husband.

However, Adam felt the officers didn't take that information seriously because they were talking, laughing, joking, and eating, during the interview. Adam then told investigators about a safe his father kept in his bedroom. The police had located the safe on the terrace off of the living room of the apartment. It had been forced open and was empty.

The now 17-year-old says this was the first and only time the police cooperated with his family. Since that time the lead investigator has not met with the family, is never in his office when they call, and has never returned their calls.

Adam is distressed about the lack of progress in the case and is not happy about how the police have conducted the investigation overall. For example, the apartment was sealed off after the murder. When the family was allowed access months later, the living room was strewn with papers and clothes. The police told the Daily News that the apartment had been ransacked prior to their arrival. But Adam says that is not true. On the morning he discovered his father's body the only room with things out of place was the bedroom. Who ransacked the apartment and why remains a mystery to Adam and his family.

Adam thinks the lack of effort on the part of the police may have something to do with a confrontation his father had with officers in 2000 or 2002, that resulted in Charlie filing a lawsuit alleging an excessive use of force.

And the story took an additional twist when police sources told a Daily News reporter in July 2010 that Savitrie herself is a "person of interest" in the case. Adam, his mother and brothers, are embroiled in a battle with the Hartford Life Insurance Company over collecting on a $358,000 policy Charlie had in force at the time of his death. (Daily News Article)

So who killed Charlie Cameron? Was it a jealous husband or his estranged girlfriend? Or perhaps it was a random burglar or some other as yet unknown individual. Whoever the murderer is, his or her identity needs to be established and an arrest made. Adam wants a resolution and Charlie Cameron deserves justice.

If you have any information about the murder of Charlie Cameron, please contact thecrimewire@gmail.com.

Dennis Griffin is the Author of several True Crime books, including The Battle for Las Vegas, Cullotta, and Surviving the Mob.

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